Monday Notes: 4 Ways to Function in Extreme Heat

Dwight and I went back home for about ten days. When I say “home,” I mean Detroit for him and Chicago for me, where we were both born and raised, respectively. While there, Midwesterners experienced extremely hot conditions. For them, this meant mid-90s, with 50% humidity. For Dwight and I, who’ve lived in Florida for over twenty years, it meant…summertime.

All jokes aside, we really were not uncomfortable and as I began to observe everyone else, I could understand why they were. There are certain things you probably should do when it’s unbearably hot.

#1: Wear shorts and stuff. I’d packed several pairs of shorts and tank tops because that’s how I dress during summer months. In fact, my father-in-law off-handedly commented about the size of my shorts. “That won’t take long to iron,” he said. And I thought, yeah…cause I’m dressing for the weather. However, others weren’t. You wouldn’t believe how many people I saw walking around with black jeans and dark long-sleeved shirts complaining about how hot they were! I was taught long ago not to wear dark clothing during the summer because it absorbs heat. But I’m not so sure everyone learned this rule. Trust me. It might make the weather more tolerable.

#2: Exercise indoors. When we arrived to my aunt’s house, I was happy to see her in some above-the knee clothing, but when I complained to her about the guy I saw during his midday jog, she had this to say, “We’ve been waiting all winter for warmer weather. We want to be outside!” I get it. But jogging outside around noon, under the blaring sun is not what’s best. Use your gym membership. Get your run in when it’s sundown, or better yet, when it’s sun rise. The weather’s cooler and you might not suffer heatstroke.

#3: Turn on the air conditioner before it gets hot. The primary reason we were in Detroit was for Dwight’s cousin’s wedding. Her nuptials took place in a humungous church. You know the kind of brick building that takes up an entire city block? Well, the wedding was beautiful, but our sweaty faces and underarm pits were not. It was hot as hell in there! Can I say that about a church? They hadn’t turned on the air conditioner until the morning of the wedding, and given the size of the church, I’d say it probably wasn’t cool until Sunday school. The same thing happened at the reception. In fact, her cake began to melt and lean to one side, all because the air wasn’t turned on in an appropriate timeframe.

#4: Drink lots of water. One year, my best friend visited and asked me, “What’s up with the bottle?” She was asking about something that I’ve done for several years now, carry bottles of water everywhere. No matter what, you’ll always see me with a bottle of water either in my car, on my nightstand, or in my hand. I drink water all day long because it’s always hot where we live. And at the risk of sounding like a PSA, “drinking water helps replenish the fluids lost by excessive sweating. If you don’t get enough water, you may become dehydrated, and the combination of hot temperatures and dehydration can lead to serious heat-related illnesses” (Very Well Fit).

And in the immortal words of Sweet Brown, “Ain’t nobody got time for that!”

I know I’ve partially made light of extreme weather conditions, but seriously, if you’re in a part of the world that doesn’t normally see high temps, take heed to some of these rules. They just might save your health.

49 thoughts on “Monday Notes: 4 Ways to Function in Extreme Heat”

Here in Toronto it’s been the same – the humidity is killer! We had to install a fence out back and by 11 am it was unbearably hot. 🙂 I tend to keep the a/c on but at a fairly high temperature. I don’t want my house cold, it’s cold long enough here during the remaining 8 months of the year, but I do want no humidity. Right? 🙂

Ha! Seems like common sense ain’t so common! I catered an event for a good amount of northwesterners yesterday and they clearly didn’t check the Atlanta forecast before arriving in their jeans, flannel button ups and tights. Who does that?! It sounds like people that want to suffer.

I really enjoyed reading this as I chuckled at how much I love Phoenix AZ. Today the forecast has the high to be 115 and the low after the sun goes down will be 89. Imagine waking up to 100 degrees for days with low humidity most of the time. Sunshine for at least 300 days a year.
If the humidity rises above 25 I feel it in my body. I do all of the things you say do for hot weather. I learned the hard way about the air conditioner. Turning off while away during the day made my electric bill soar. I have a pool right outside my door so exercising and staying cool is my way of life.
I am also from the Midwest. St. Louis is the mold and humidity Capitol. I will be returning soon. I miss my family too much.

Good advice, except the clothing part isn’t applicable for everyone, I think. When ‘sunburned’ easily and you have to go outside, you have to cover your skin. The color of clothes really doesn’t make that much difference. Fortunately, I have a little Indonesian DNA in me, so I don’t burn easily.
However, I was always told by my Indonesian father to eat hot meals and cover my body, because the body will start the process of cooling down. And not to drink only water (which I normally also don’t, because I don’t like the taste), but also drink at least one cup of broth.

I knew someone was gonna disagree about the clothing Patty. I just didn’t know it was gonna be you lol I kinda disagree too. It depends on the region and what you’re used to. For example, I’ve seen Middle Easterners with LOTS of clothing on, but I suspect the material isn’t bulky and thick? I don’t know. And of course, if you have sun sensitivity, then by all means cover up.

That’s also interesting advice from your Indonesian father. I think I’d literally combust if I did that.

As always, it comes down to our uniqueness 🙂
I wear with the current heat wave over here, which is breaking records apparently, often long trousers of thin material…because I hate that feeling when your legs stick together, hahaha In the morning I eat soup, when it’s not that hot, during the day fruits like melon and at night light warm meals. So far so good, but I must admit…my hubby went out last night to buy, finally!, a movable air-conditioning thing. Every year during summer we seem to get longer periods of extreme warm weather conditions ( for North-West Europeans that is), so today I love my hubby even more. LOL

All excellent pieces of advice. Common sense apparently isn’t as common as it used to be. I thought everyone knew black absorbs and holds heat… my black dog can’t stay outside 10 minutes on a sunny day, he’s burning up. Or let your rear compare tan car seats to black ones after the car’s been parked in the sun for a few hours. Water is my best friend too, KE, my bottle is always within reach. 🙂

I am sitting on my terrace wearing shorts and feeling the wonderful summer breeze…oh yeah…my water is in the kitchen waiting for me. 🙂 In NY, summers are usually humid but it feels so good now. Great tips Kathy!

Love your tips – all of them are wonderful. I play tennis and in the summer we make our doubles game early! One thing that helps me cope with the heat is to tie a handkerchief around my neck filled with ice. I twist it closed, tie it loosely, and the melting ice lowers my temperature considerably. I highly recommend this!
It does make a difference with all the things you mentioned!